230 girls abducted in Nigeria still missing

In this photo
taken Monday, April, 21. 2014. Borno state governor Kashim Shettima,
centre, visit government secondary school Chibok, were gunmen abducted
more than 200 students in Chibok, Nigeria. Nigerian parents say more
than 200 girls and young women abducted from the Chibok school by
Islamic militants remain missing one week later, despite a "hot pursuit"
by security forces and an independent search by desperate parents who
went into a dangerous forest. Dozens of the kidnapped girls managed to
escape by jumping from the back of an open truck or hiding in dense
forest. (AP Photo/ Haruna Umar)

In this photo
taken Monday, April, 21. 2014 four female students of government
secondary school Chibok, who were abducted by gunmen and reunited with
their families walk in Chibok, Nigeria. Nigerian parents say more than
200 girls and young women abducted from the Chibok school by Islamic
militants remain missing one week later, despite a "hot pursuit" by
security forces and an independent search by desperate parents who went
into a dangerous forest. Dozens of the kidnapped girls managed to escape
by jumping from the back of an open truck or hiding in dense forest.
(AP Photo/ Haruna Umar)

In this photo
taken Monday, April, 21. 2014. Security walk past burned government
secondary school Chibok, were gunmen abducted more than 200 students in
Chibok, Nigeria. Nigerian parents say more than 200 girls and young
women abducted from the Chibok school by Islamic militants remain
missing one week later, despite a "hot pursuit" by security forces and
an independent search by desperate parents who went into a dangerous
forest. Dozens of the kidnapped girls managed to escape by jumping from
the back of an open truck or hiding in dense forest. (AP Photo/ Haruna
Umar)

In this photo
taken Monday, April, 21. 2014, soldiers stand guards in front of
government secondary school Chibok, were gunmen abducted more than 200
students in Chibok, Nigeria. Nigerian parents say more than 200 girls
and young women abducted from the Chibok school by Islamic militants
remain missing one week later, despite a "hot pursuit" by security
forces and an independent search by desperate parents who went into a
dangerous forest. Dozens of the kidnapped girls managed to escape by
jumping from the back of an open truck or hiding in dense forest. (AP
Photo/ Haruna Umar)

CHIBOK,
Nigeria (AP) — A week after Islamic extremists stormed a remote
boarding school in northeast Nigeria, more than 200 girls and young
women remain missing despite a "hot pursuit" by security forces and an
independent search by desperate fathers who headed into a dangerous
forest to find their daughters.

At Chibok, the scene of the attack, weeping parents cried on Monday,
begging the kidnappers to "have mercy on our daughters," and for the
government to rescue them. "I have not seen my dear daughter, she is a
good girl," cried Musa Muka, whose 17-year-old Martha was taken away.
"We plead with the government to help rescue her and her friends; we
pray nothing happens to her."

Although at least 200 remain missing, dozens of the students managed
to escape their captors, jumping from the back of an open truck after
they were kidnapped in the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday last week or by
running away and hiding in the dense forest. The number who escaped
depends on whom you speak to — 39, 43, maybe more than 50.

The mass abduction is a major embarrassment for Nigeria's military,
which had announced last week that security forces had rescued all but
eight of those kidnapped — and then was forced to retract the statement.
It came from Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade. "The
operation is going on and we will continue to deploy more troops,"
Olukolade on Tuesday told The Associated Press, adding that air and land
patrols are hunting for the students.

The Nigerian Air Force has halted what were near-daily air
bombardments of the forest — presumably because of the kidnapped
students. The extremists have abducted handfuls of students in recent
months but this mass kidnapping is unprecedented.

Nigeria's military is already confronted by mounting criticism over
its failure to curb the 5-year-old Islamic uprising despite having
draconian powers under an 11-month state of emergency in three
northeastern states covering one-sixth of the country. It seems every
time the military trumpets a success in its "onslaught on terrorists,"
the extremists step up the tempo and deadliness of attacks. More than
1,500 people have been killed in the insurgency so far this year,
compared to an estimated 3,600 between 2010 and 2013.

Military and government claims that the extremists were cornered in
the remote northeast were shattered by a massive explosion April 14 at a
bus station in Abuja, the capital in the center of the country, which
killed at least 75 people and wounded 141.

The leader of the homegrown Boko Haram terrorist network, Abubakar
Shekau, in a video received Saturday claimed responsibility for the
Abuja bombing but said nothing about the kidnapped girls. Shekau
repeated his opposition to "corrupting" Western influences, saying.
"Everyone that calls himself a Muslim must stop obeying the
constitution, must abandon democracy, must stay away from Western
education." Boko Haram means "Western education is sinful" in the local
Hausa language.

The Islamic insurgency has forced some 750,000 people including
hundreds of thousands of farmers to flee their homes, raising fears of a
food shortage. Refugees in neighboring countries said they were
escaping militant attacks as well as the often brutal response of
Nigeria's military.

In Chibok town, even the number of students abducted is in question.
Education officials had said 129 — which was the number of students
writing an exam. The girls had been recalled to write a physics exam as
the school, and all schools in Borno state, were closed four weeks ago
by the government because of the increased attacks. But as parents
rushed from across Borno state to the boarding school , the number of
missing grew. On Monday, parents gave the visiting Borno governor a list
of 234 missing girls and young women, aged between 16 and 18.

School principal Asabe Kwambura told The Associated Press the number
of students accounted for is 43 and the number missing is 230. The
extremists set the school ablaze, leaving only burned-out shells.

As confidence in the military eroded, the parents and other Chibok
residents pooled money to buy fuel for motorcycles and headed into the
Sambisa Forest, a nearby known hideout of extremists.

A parent who did not give his name described the civilian search to
Borno state Gov. Kashim Shettima when he visited Chibok on Monday. The
father said they pursued the abductors some 50 kilometers (30 miles)
deep into the forest, getting directions from villagers and a lone
herdsman, who all said they had seen the girls. The father described
thick forest with trees blocking the sun and sky. Then they came to a
fork in the footpath and saw an elderly man.

"He confirmed to us that he saw our daughters, with their kidnappers.
He said the girls were brought down from the truck and made to trek
into the forest. He pointed to us the direction they took them, but
warned us that if we ventured into that part of the forest without any
security personnel we would all be killed together with our daughters."

At that point the search party returned to Chibok, he said. Some got
lost in the forest and took three days to get back to the town on foot.

He said they never once encountered any soldiers. And the only
security in Chibok is a handful of police officers, according to
education officials.

The mass abduction is a major embarrassment for Nigeria's military,
which had announced last week that security forces had rescued all but
eight of those kidnapped — and then was forced to retract the statement.
It came from Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade. "The
operation is going on and we will continue to deploy more troops,"
Olukolade on Tuesday told The Associated Press, adding that air and land
patrols are hunting for the students.

Are they even looking that hard for them?

16-18 y/o? Those poor girls are being victimized, sold off, and so on while the govt drags their feet smh.

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